Family saved from fire by barking dogs

Updated 11:09 pm, Thursday, March 28, 2013

John Branch explores his charred home Thursday with his best friends. "They're not dogs today," he said. "They're lifesavers."

John Branch explores his charred home Thursday with his best friends. "They're not dogs today," he said. "They're lifesavers."

Photo: Cody Duty, Staff

Family saved from fire by barking dogs

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John Branch is the first to admit that his family spoils Nikki, Midnight and Bedo, their dogs.

"If we get in the truck, they get in the truck," said the 54-year-old Branch. "When we go on vacation, we go where they can go. At night, one of them lays at my feet, one lays at my side, and one lays at the window keeping watch."

All three took on the protector role late Wednesday, alerting the family when a fire raced through their Independence Heights home.

"They saved us," Branch said. "I hate I can't give them a big T-bone and barbecue … They deserve that, and more, because we could all be gone right now."

Branch said the fire started shortly after 10 p.m. in his father's bedroom.

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He said his 83-year-old father, who has dementia, may have placed a blanket on top of a space heater and accidently ignited it.

The three dogs ran outside through the doggie door in the family's two-story home in the 4400 block of Castor, then charged back inside to alert Branch. He was in the back of the home with his wife, Alida Villalongo, and daughter, Ayanna.

Branch's father, meanwhile, grabbed a water hose to fight the flames that leapt 2 to 3 feet out of his bedroom window, but the effort was in vain. The family evacuated and Branch called 911. No one was injured.

"I'm just grateful," Villalongo said of the family's dogs. Nikki is a Rhodesian Ridgeback; Midnight a Collie mix; and Bedo a Terrier. "They're always barking and letting us know something's going on (and that) we need to go check it out. Sometimes it's nothing, and this time it just happened something was really going on. Everybody got out OK, so we're good. It could have been much worse."

The blaze erupted as the family was rebuilding from a fire in September.

"We were just getting sheetrock to make a start from the first fire," said Branch, president of the Independence Heights War on Drugs, "and now we had to make a second start."

The family has no fire insurance.

To show his gratitude to firefighters after the September fire, Branch hosted a fundraiser at his home to benefit the fire station.

A special account has been opened at Chase Bank to assist the family. Donations may be made to the Branch Fire Fund/John Branch at the bank. The account number is #2908106800.